After the others left, Aunt Chunxing finally came out of the house. She had heard the commotion of Yu Nian’an going back and forth earlier, but the stove had a fire going, so she couldn’t leave.
Seeing the money in her husband’s hand, she frowned. “Didn’t you give all this money to An Ni Zi? Why are you taking it back?”
Uncle Jianping quickly explained, “That girl wants to dig a well in the courtyard. This money is for that.”
Aunt Chunxing, hearing this, was even more puzzled. They were a rural family, and there was already a well in the brigade just fetch water from there and carry it home. Why spend money on this?
She was about to go talk to Yu Nian’an about it, but her husband stopped her.
“Enough. I’ve already advised her. An Ni Zi is a determined one. You don’t need to argue about it. After all, the money spent isn’t even ours.”
“Hmph! Old Yu, so now I find out you’re got a black heart too? An Ni Zi has lost her parents, and we’re not supposed to bully her like this!”
With that, Aunt Chunxing slapped Jianping on the shoulder, scaring him into standing up quickly.
The couple argued about the money in the courtyard, while the instigator Yu Nian’an remained completely unaware.
Calculating the money she had left, Yu Nian’an realized that besides renovating the small courtyard, she would also need to reserve some funds to purchase household items. Although she still had a fair amount, there would come a day when it ran out.
Relying solely on the small amount of labor points earned from fieldwork wouldn’t be enough to live on.
It seemed she would have to find another way to earn money.
Looking for a job was out of the question. In this era, every position was tied to a specific person, and connections were everything. Yu Nian’an knew her status well that route was completely closed to her.
The remaining option was entrepreneurship.
As for what kind of business, she had no idea yet.
For now, she decided to go home opportunities often appeared unexpectedly, and she still had enough money on hand to wait.
She didn’t know how Aunt Chunxing and her husband ultimately discussed it, but the next day at noon, Uncle Jianping arrived at Yu Nian’an’s house with a cart full of stones.
The courtyard gate was half broken and hard to open, and since the courtyard wall was going to be torn down and rebuilt anyway, Yu Nian’an went straight to work, pushing over the wooden fence to let the ox cart in.
Two young men had come along as well presumably the helpers she had arranged.
Yu Nian’an pointed to the open space in the courtyard. “Uncle, the yard is spacious you can unload the stones anywhere you like.”
She was about to help lift the stones, but Uncle Jianping stopped her.
“Ni Zi, we’ll handle this work. You’ve already given the money, so just stay out of it.”
The two young men nodded in agreement. They were Aunt Chunxing’s nephews. Now that the busy farming season was mostly over, the fieldwork was mostly done, so just sending a few people from each household was enough. The elderly couple had decided last night to send their own family to help, which would save Yu Nian’an a lot in labor costs.
Besides, since they were family, providing them meals was no trouble at all.
Most importantly, both of them now had families of their own, with children. They were the most suitable people to help with this work, and their presence wouldn’t affect Yu Nian’an’s reputation.
The girl had her own ideas, and they couldn’t persuade her otherwise. Their only option was to assist where they could.
Yu Nian’an didn’t expect that just because she wanted to dig an extra well, Aunt Chunxing would think so far ahead to help her.
Seeing them get to work, she went to the kitchen and boiled a kettle of hot water, setting it aside for them.
There was almost nothing at home she wanted to give them a bit of sugar to sweeten their mouths, but she couldn’t even do that.
While she was boiling water, the outer wooden fence had already been pushed down, and the scattered planks were piled to one side. Yu Nian’an walked over and began carrying the wood to the kitchen in batches.
The wood could be used as firewood it couldn’t be wasted.
Since it was the lunch break and her house was on the edge of the village, a fair distance from everyone else, no one yet knew that she was renovating the courtyard.
However, by the time it was nearly time to start work again in the afternoon, some of the educated youths passed by. Seeing the stones in the center of the yard and two piles of yellow clay, curiosity got the better of them, and they came over to take a look.
One of the older educated youths looked at the scene and asked,
“Comrade, are you building a house?”
At that, everyone turned their eyes toward her, scrutinizing.
Yu Nian’an looked helpless.
Considering the difference in era and not wanting them to overthink things, she stepped forward to explain, “No, nothing like that. Just rebuilding the courtyard wall. It was made of wood before, and it was practically falling apart.”
“I see.”
These older educated youths had seen how Yu Nian’an’s home looked before. That wooden fence, tied together in a row around the yard, really did need replacing.
So they didn’t say anything further. After staring in curiosity for a while, they gradually left.
Once everyone had dispersed, Yu Nian’an realized it was almost time to start work. Since she was the only one at home, she would still need to go to the fields, so she left the remaining work to Uncle Jianping to handle on his own.
Just as she stepped out of the yard, she saw three people walking slowly ahead. One of them looked familiar.
It was the educated youth she had rescued.
Judging by the person beside him, it was probably his friend.
Yu Nian’an didn’t want to interact too much with the educated youths, so she slowed her pace to keep some distance.
When she arrived at the fields, Aunt Chunxing spotted her from afar and waved. As Yu Nian’an approached, she hurriedly asked, “Ni Zi, how’s it going? Your uncle and the others doing okay?”
Yu Nian’an nodded. “My uncle works really efficiently. In just this one noon, they cleared out the courtyard wall completely.”
“That’s right. Let me tell you, those two are my nephews from my family. Don’t think I’m giving them an advantage just because they’re family. They’ve worked with your uncle before, so they’re experienced hands.”
I see. She had just been thinking that the three of them worked together so seamlessly, each with a clear role it turned out they had already been a team before.
“Don’t worry, An Ni Zi! I guarantee it’ll be all done and neat in two or three days!” Aunt Chunxing patted her chest confidently.
Yu Nian’an’s eyes brightened. “Well, that’s perfect.”
Nearby, Liu Guihua, seeing the two of them chatting so warmly, couldn’t help but feel annoyed. She had witnessed this scene for several days in a row. The last time, that girl had talked back to her and even made Aunt Chunxing laugh. She had been holding that resentment ever since.
Now she couldn’t resist stepping forward, and her voice carried a sharp, sarcastic tone.
“Oh, I say, Chunxing, chatting every day with just a little girl what’s so interesting about that? Why don’t you let everyone else listen too?”
By now, the surrounding people had all gathered. Seeing Liu Guihua’s attitude, it was clear she was looking for trouble. Nobody rushed to work; they all waited for the drama to unfold.
Yu Nian’an’s smile didn’t falter. She gave Aunt Chunxing a reassuring glance, then turned to Liu Guihua and mimicked her sarcastic tone:
“We were just talking about when we’re finally going to get invited to your family’s wedding banquet, Auntie.”
Liu Guihua froze for a moment, then shot back, “What nonsense are you talking about, girl? My family isn’t hosting any wedding banquet!”
“Of course it’s about your daughter and your family’s nephew. What, Auntie, you haven’t mentioned it yet? I thought you had it all figured out last time.”
Yu Nian’an covered her mouth and looked at her in mock surprise.
Now it was Liu Guihua’s turn to be on the receiving end. If she denied it in front of everyone, it would imply her nephew hadn’t done as well as she claimed. But if she didn’t deny it, her daughter would be the subject of gossip.
Her old face flushed bright red, and finally, she spat heavily toward the two of them before storming off.